Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3290: Keep the green hills alive

The lines of both sides were rapidly approaching each other, and shouts in different accents were heard from time to time.

But no matter how you listen, it seems that the soldiers on the cavalry side are more energetic, while the soldiers in Cao's camp at the foot of the slope, who obviously have better cover and fortifications, seem a little panicked.

There are spears like a forest.

The flags are fluttering.

Even with artillery, cold weapons still play a major role on the battlefield of this era.

When Xu Chu issued the order, Fei Qian did not give any guidance or express any attitude, because Fei Qian knew that in an army, the orders must not be inconsistent and unclear.

In fact, this is also true in any organizational system, or in any family or country. The clearer the orders are, the more conducive it is to execution at the grassroots level.

The Chinese actually like to use words like "in principle", but in fact, the more such words are used, the more unfriendly they are to subordinates, and the more structural damage they will cause to the entire country.

"Agree in principle" means "I won't stop you, but if something goes wrong, you will be responsible."

"Not allowed in principle" means "This is not allowed, but I have to allow it due to pressure, so the responsibility after something goes wrong will be borne by you and the person who put the pressure on you."

"Don't do it unless it's necessary" means, "Don't do X unless a better situation arises or there is a sufficient reason to go through the process, otherwise you will definitely be held accountable later and you will have to take the blame."

"If necessary, you can" means "I have anticipated this situation and authorized you to make a plan, but I will not bear any responsibility for you doing this."

Simply put, all of the above are just passing the buck.

  During the Chinese feudal dynasties, low-level officials were criticized for being increasingly inactive, greedy, lazy, derelict in their duties, and negligent. But have you ever thought that this situation is also due to the fact that more and more words such as "in principle", "in theory", and "in law" are used in imperial edicts, articles, and various court documents?

"In principle" appears to be acknowledging the "principle", but in reality it is wielding a hoe to dig out loose holes in the "principle". Even the most rigid laws can be made to have sufficient reasons for violating the law through this clever "in principle" approach.

This is actually a violation and insult of the law. It appears to be flexible on the surface, but in fact it is a "flexibility" and an "excuse" for corrupt officials to violate the law recklessly.

Therefore, when Fei Qian gave instructions to Xu Chu, he was always definite, either he could do it or he couldn't do it, and he never told Xu Chu anything about "in principle" or "in law"...

There is no such thing as "in principle" when soldiers attack.

Advance or retreat, life or death, the more important the moment, the simpler and clearer it must be.

The Cao army soldiers at the bottom of the slope were always passively taking the beating.

However, when Xu Chu's infantry line advanced to within an arrow's range, the counterattack in the camp below the slope began.

Although arrows and crossbows could not reach Xu Chu's line, catapults and crossbows could.

However, I don’t know if it was because there were not many catapults and crossbows in the Cao army camp at the bottom of the slope, or for some other reason, so there were only two or three catapults and no more than five crossbows shooting.

After suffering a counterattack from Cao's crossbows and catapults, Xu Chu ordered the front line to form a dispersed formation.

A neat and dense array means that they will bear greater damage, while a relatively dispersed small queue is more flexible. Moreover, facing the long-range weapons of Cao's army, which are slower than artillery, they can take some evasive actions when they attack, such as crawling on the ground to avoid them.

As for Xu Chu's scattered formation, the Cao army camp obviously had no effective countermeasures.

The crossbow carts in Cao's camp were hurling stones, but most of the attacks fell into the air.

As Xu Chu's infantry line pressed forward, the other two bronze cannons were dragged by four horses to the front line of the cavalry army and began to prepare for installation. Although the cannons were more accurate and more destructive than the catapults, they were still far behind the cannons of later generations that could strike at a fixed point.

Because the distance was farther before, the accuracy was obviously much worse. Now the artillery position was pushed forward again in order to make a more accurate strike on the cracked wall of Cao's camp at the foot of the slope.

Artillery is a newly developed project, so even if you have experience in aiming catapults, you cannot use it on artillery.

At the same time, today's artillery is still a smoothbore cannon. If you want to light up the more accurate rifled technology tree, it is definitely not something that Fei Qian can do with just one sentence...

According to current metallurgical technology, smoothbore cannons can obviously withstand higher chamber pressures, which is equivalent to extending the life of the barrel and the number of times it can be used. However, if a rifled cannon is used without sufficient metallurgical technology, then even if it is successfully made, it may explode on the spot after firing one or two shots, hurting itself before hurting others.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

The craftsman directing the bombardment blew the bronze whistle to remind the cavalry and infantry in front to get out of the way of the bombardment.

The infantry line of the Hussars is not a true skirmish line, but more like a small array, existing as a defensive force for artillery. Therefore, when artillery fires, it is necessary to leave a channel for shells so that the artillery can support the infantry line in combat. The infantry line can also defend against enemy counterattacks against artillery in a timely manner.

Soon, the rearranged artillery began firing again.

One artillery shell weighs about 6.6 jin.

Han Jin.

Larger shells would have greater destructive power, but would also require a stronger explosive force to propel them.

This was not the standard set by Fei Qian, but when he saw this standard, he couldn't help but feel a little evil.

After many tests, the craftsmen determined that the weight of the artillery shells was within the range of 6.6 jin.

Therefore, every roar of the artillery seemed to be roaring "666"...

The shells flew towards the Cao army camp at the foot of the slope, and wherever they hit the wall of the Cao army camp, wood chips flew everywhere and blood was everywhere.

A large Han flag, which was either hit by a shell or blown up by the airflow of the shell, was thrown high into the air, then swayed slowly and fell down.

Liu Zhu, who was in the Cao army camp at the foot of the slope, saw that the hussars did not attack the camp immediately, and even their infantry line was out of the range of an arrow. Although his catapults and crossbows could injure and kill these hussars, their efficiency was obviously very poor, and the more arrows and crossbows he stored were of no use for the time being.

This caused the morale of the archers lined up behind the camp wall to collapse, especially when the opposite artillery bombarded the camp wall. These Cao army archers could not help but scream out in surprise. Some archers could not bear the horrible pressure and collapsed and fled on the spot, and were hacked to death on the spot by the Cao army soldiers who were supervising the battle in the rear.

Faced with the new combat tactics of the Cavalry, Liu Zhu seemed very confused and could not make up his mind for a while.

Cao's original strategy was just to counter the cavalry of the Hussars...

As a result, the cavalry of the Hussars were now on both wings, but the attackers were infantrymen. Moreover, the fighting mode of these Hussars infantrymen was completely different from the previous one of filling pits and digging trenches. This made the Cao army camp at the foot of the slope continue to be passively attacked.

If an order was given to attack and eliminate the artillery in the Hussar Infantry formation, then not to mention what other "surprises" were waiting for Cao's army in the Hussar Infantry formation, the Hussar cavalry roaming around on both wings would be enough to give those Cao's soldiers who had left the fortifications a good beating.

  But if they still don't attack, then let's not talk about the final fate of the camps and walls in front, the morale of Cao's soldiers is constantly collapsing. If they fall to the critical point and cause the entire army to collapse, there will be no chance of rescue!

What should I do?

Liu Zhu felt his head buzzing, as if the sounds of the artillery fire were drilling into his brain again and again, echoing and stirring him wildly.

The air was filled with smoke from the artillery fire and the sound was like thunder.

The destructive power of cannonballs is more brutal than that of catapults, probably because the stones dropped by catapults are generally falling, and as long as you are not near the falling point, there is generally not much danger. Even if the stone bullet happens to hit you, as long as it does not hit you directly, at most you will be beaten black and blue by the splashing stones and dirt. However, the main force direction of artillery shells is horizontal...

The bombardment on the wall of the camp would immediately cause it to crack, shake, and collapse. Everything in the trajectory of the artillery bombardment seemed to be destroyed by it.

The elite commanders of Cao's army were somewhat better off. On the one hand, they were all veterans with high salaries, and on the other hand, they stood a little further back, so the psychological pressure was not that great.

The situation of the ordinary Cao soldiers closest to the camp wall was worse. Some of these ordinary Cao soldiers had little combat experience, and some were originally from the counties of Hedong. They were relatively poorly trained and their morale was not high. Facing the long-range artillery attack of the Hussars, their spirits became more and more tense. As the screams around them gradually increased, many ordinary Cao soldiers had dry mouths and their hands and legs were shaking.

After another round of artillery bombardment, another section of the village wall was hit in an important connecting structure, and the entire section collapsed.

The ordinary Cao army soldiers who were on standby behind the village wall still howled in fear even though they were protected by chevaux de frise and trenches. The entire formation suddenly collapsed and disintegrated like the village wall, and instantly spread to other Cao army formations.

"Anyone who retreats will be killed!" Liu Zhu shouted, "Anyone who disrupts the army will be killed!"

The commander of the central army rushed forward and hacked to death those ordinary Cao army soldiers who were running around in front of the formation. Even Liu Zhu came forward with his guards and killed almost all the soldiers in the formation. Only then was he able to barely control the collapse of the formation.

But this is only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution.

  The number of Cao's soldiers killed or wounded by direct artillery fire was not that many. Compared with the total number of people in the Cao's camp at the foot of the slope, the number was probably less than a fraction. However, those who were killed because of their cowardice and escape were several times the number killed by artillery fire!

The smell of blood spread, and the morale collapse it caused was irreversible.

The defensive fortifications of Cao's army camp at the foot of the slope have only destroyed the wall, the trench in front of the wall, the chevaux de frise, traps, and half-man-high earth walls inside the camp. These fortifications are basically still in good condition, but they cannot bring a sense of psychological security to Cao's soldiers.

The cavalry only used the four cannons in the front and back to successfully cause chaos in Cao's army in the camp at the foot of the slope.

With the emergence of firearms, the combat mode between soldiers is constantly changing. Moreover, due to the existence of the Military Academy established by Fei Qian, the experience of soldiers and officers can be effectively communicated and exchanged, and they can learn and grow.

Zhu Ling's improvement of the Dahuang crossbow is one example, Sima Yi's change of cavalry to archer cavalry is another example, and Wei Yan's change from surprise attack to bribery is another example. These outstanding generals in the history of the Three Kingdoms, with stronger support, are no longer bound by a fixed model, but are more flexible and shine more and more brilliantly.

The same is true for Xu Chu.

He restrained his desire to fight directly on the front line, and instead played to his strengths as much as possible, disrupting the opponent's rhythm and formation, and gradually adapted to the new changes in the war through the operation and attack of his soldiers.

Yes, skirmishing is indeed an effective tactic to restrain artillery, muskets and other firearms. But the problem is that it is easy to disperse but difficult to withdraw. The skirmish line actually has very high requirements for the quality of soldiers and the requirements for mid- and low-level non-commissioned officers.

Even if Liu Zhu had an idea, or a strategist like Guo Jia thought of using a skirmish line to deal with Fei Qian's firearms, it would still be useless, because in the current Shandong military system, even if there was nothing happening, just during normal marching and working, deserters could appear at any time and anywhere.

In order to prevent soldiers from escaping, the army even had to implement a system of collective responsibility. If a soldier escaped, the whole squad would be punished, and if a squad escaped, the whole squad leader would be in trouble, so Cao's army could not implement the scattered line tactics. The integrity of the infantry formation, which Cao's army had always emphasized, now became Cao's nightmare.

Relatively speaking, the number of soldiers on the side of the Hussars was seriously insufficient when Fei Qian first started his army. It was impossible for them to recruit thousands of soldiers at will like in Shandong. This led to Fei Qian's more cautious attitude towards soldiers, which eventually evolved into a battle philosophy of seeking quality rather than quantity, and then evolved into a common habit of generals under the Hussars, which was to disrupt the opponent's rhythm at a relatively small cost, destroy the opponent's formation, and finally defeat the opponent.

Therefore, even when Xu Chu went into battle for the first time, he also displayed similar tactics, instead of relying on the large number of soldiers under his command to shout and then rush to the battlefield...

The military training system of the Cavalry Corps has actually been changing and improving all the time, but the military training system in Shandong is still stuck in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Some places don't even have a training system at all. They just recruit a group of soldiers and distribute some spears and short swords, and then they form an army.

However, every time the Hussars fired their artillery, it cost between eight hundred and one thousand Hussars coins...

The cost of gunpowder accounts for about 30%, while the cost of shells accounts for 50%, and the rest is other depreciation and loss costs.

If ten cannons were to fire in one round, it would be a "magic power" worth "throwing a ton of gold at a time."

Advanced technology and tactical barriers actually require the accumulation of a large amount of resources and wealth, whether in ancient times or in modern times.

The collection and smelting of copper and iron materials alone consumed a lot of Fei Qian's manpower and resources. If it weren't for the craftsman system and workshop model that had been established early on, would Fei Qian have been able to put his ideas into practice just by thinking about it?

  Standards are specified, craftsmen are passed down, tools are unified, and standards are customized. If there is even a slight deviation, the final artillery will be strange, with different shapes, iron bullets, and charges. How can an effective fighting force be formed in this way?

Fei Qian now wants to use this model to let those aristocratic children in Shandong who believe that the laws of their ancestors cannot be changed and the ancient Zhou rituals cannot be violated, and who would rather enclose land from generation to generation in exchange for perfection, experience the earth-shaking changes brought about by the concentration of resources and technology as an empire!

However, what neither Fei Qian nor Xu Chu, nor even Liu Zhu expected, was that the first thing that caused the huge changes on the battlefield was not the collapse of the Cao army's formation on the front line, but the Hu Zhi in the rear of the camp...

Hu Zhi's courage is obviously not as good as Liu Zhu's.

The reason why he was able to become the military commander was simply because he followed Cao Cao earlier, not because of Hu Zhi's personal abilities.

If the cavalry adopted the battle mode that Hu Zhi was familiar with and attacked against the various defensive fortifications in Cao's camp, then even if Hu Zhi was timid, he would be able to hold on. But he never expected that the cavalry's attack was so different. In the first attack, they almost broke through the front camp wall!

  This almost broke through Hu Zhi's bottom line!

Originally, he thought that it would take at least three to five days for the outer trenches to be filled, and then after another three to five days, the Hussars would have a chance to break through the camp.

  But it’s only the first day!

The sun hasn't even set yet!

"Everyone, get ready..." Hu Zhi's voice was shaking as he said to the guards around him, "As soon as it gets dark, we will... break out... We can't hold this camp anymore, we can't hold it anymore!"

Upon hearing this, the guards responded hurriedly.

The camp wall that was so thick and built with so much effort was blown down in the blink of an eye!

  Even if Liu Zhu was made of iron, how many nails could he hammer into a hole that big?

A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Since the situation is already very bad, there is no point in persisting.

Hu Zhi knew that if he retreated, the entire army would be implicated.

But he was only the military commander, not the main commander, so if he retreated early, at most he would be beaten and reprimanded, fined some salary, demoted, etc. When the storm was over, he could still come out to make a living. As for warnings, exhortations, self-criticisms, etc. to the whole army, they were just formalities, eating and drinking, singing and dancing.

And if he is still here, I might have to delete his account!

Leave the green hills behind...

Of course, in order to avoid directly causing a large-scale collapse of soldiers, Hu Zhi suppressed his fear and set the time of his transfer at night.

But Hu Zhi forgot one thing. The soldiers in Cao's camp at the foot of the slope were already extremely nervous and their morale was very low. They were all relying on Liu Zhu's constant shouting and encouragement at the front line to hold on.

Although Hu Zhi said that the retreat would be at night, his guards would still have to prepare something, right? Gold, silver, valuables, money, and food, all of which would be more or less necessary.

If it was a normal time, it would be fine, but in this tense period of time, the behavior of the escort guards was like kerosene meeting a spark, which immediately triggered a chain reaction...

"General Hu is about to escape!"

I don't know who suddenly shouted like this, and soon more soldiers started shouting.

"General Hu has escaped!"

"He ran away..."

The shouting reached the front of the camp.

The formation of Cao's soldiers in the front was already shaky. When they heard that Hu Zhi had escaped, they had no intention of seeking the truth. They just looked at each other, shouted, dropped their swords and guns, turned around and fled!